The increasing level of carbon dioxide is a major concern in environmental pollution. This work aims to reduce the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Aqueous solutions of amines are known to capture carbon dioxide. Conventional amines such as MEA, DEAP, and AMP are widely used to capture carbon dioxide. 4-diethyl amino butan-2-ol (DEAB), and 4-isopropyl amino butan-2-ol are better amino alcohols for carbon dioxide capture since they have been found to have higher absorption capacity, require less energy for regeneration, and demonstrate low degradation rates. However, there have not been significant amounts of work reported on the subsequent conversion of the trapped carbon dioxide into useful compounds such as formic acid. We have prepared a series of α-aminophosphonates, and two kinds of N,N',N"-trialkyl phosphoric triamides to evaluate their utility in carbon dioxide capture. We found that N,N',N"-trialkyl phosphoric triamides with free amine moieties at the terminal position that are not directly linked to -P=O, were capable of carbon dioxide capture. However, α-aminophosphonates and trialkyl phosphoric triamides without having a terminal amine moiety could not capture carbon dioxide. Therefore, to explore the chemistry of phosphoric triamides in carbon dioxide capture, we have synthesized a few aliphatic and aromatic diamines linked phosphoric triamide, and found that aliphatic diamine linked phosphates are efficient in capturing carbon dioxide. Our compounds have decreased olatility compared to their amine analogues and the phosphorus centre provides an NMR handle for monitoring reactions. Preliminary results involving the conversion of the trapped carbon dioxide into environmentally benign molecules will also be reported

Rights

The author grants permission to the University Librarian at Acadia University to reproduce, loan or distribute copies of my thesis in microform, paper or electronic formats on a non-profit basis. The author retains the copyright of the thesis.